Interpretive Resource

Arabesque penchée, c. 1895/90
Bronze; foundry no. 16, 39.4 x 70 cm; base 20.3 x 12.7 cm
George F. Porter Collection; 1925.1641

Although Degas has been called "the most important painter-sculptor of the nineteenth century," he only exhibited one piece of sculpture during his entire career. With its real hair, cotton tutu, and natural features, the inclusion of his wax Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (1878-1881) at the 1881 Impressionist exhibition scandalized the public as being too lifelike, too unglamorous. Thereafter, only visitors to Degas’s Montmarte studio had the privilege of viewing his statuettes, which were mostly modeled in wax and cast in bronze only after the artist’s death in 1917.

Degas once called sculpture "a blind man’s trade," which gave rise to the long-standing assumption that his increased interest in sculpture as he aged was to compensate for his failing eyesight. Degas himself corrected this rumor in 1897, after having already practiced sculpting for some thirty years: "The only reason I made wax figures of animals and humans was for my own satisfaction ... in order to give my paintings and drawings greater expression, greater ardour and more life. They are exercises to get me going; documentary, preparatory notions, nothing more. None of this intended for sale."

Clustered on tabletops and sculpture stands, these statuettes served then as points of reference for his drawings, pastels, and paintings, with Degas moving back and forth from object to image, borrowing a pose here, repositioning a stance there. The three-dimensional figures helped him understand form and even became stand-ins for living models. Arabesque penchée shows a dancer at the lowest point of an arabesque, a complex ballet position in which all body parts extend from the central body mass, balancing on one foot. Upon completion, the dancer is upright, head in line with her spine, balancing on one leg with arms extended.

Degas studied this complex position -- one which would have been extremely difficult for a model to maintain for any length of time --throughout his career, particularly in wax and pastel. These studies of the arabesque’s sequential positions were not unlike the high-speed exposures that froze sequential motions of figures and horses by the British photographer Eadward Muybridge (1830-1904), whose work Degas admired. Arabesque penchée was not only the first bronze by Degas to enter the holdings of The Art Institute of Chicago but it may have been the first to become part of any American public collection.

Classroom Suggestions

1. Of his wax figures, Degas said "none of this is intended for sale." Have students discuss why Degas’s statuettes (bronze casts of the wax figures), considered "exercises" by the artist, are today so valued in museum and private collections. What can they reveal about Degas? his interests? his working methods?
2. The changing movements of humans and animals are "frozen" in Degas’s wax (and later bronze) figures, much as they are in British photographer Eadward Muybridge’s high-speed exposures. If cameras are available, have students record the changing movements of a classmate in motion. Upon development, line up the photographs in chronological order to recreate the movements as they were executed. Have students examine the individual body positions and their relationship to one another. (If cameras are not available, have students make quick sketches of a classmate who poses briefly in a number of different poses.)
3. While Arabesque penchée was cast in bronze after the artist’s death, Degas is recognized as the artist. Discuss with students this issue of originality and artistic credit. Can students think of other artistic fields in which recognition goes to the individual with the original design or idea rather than to the individual(s) who physically made the finished product?